Improved furnace foe melting and refining iron and other metals



PATENTED TEB.- l, 13W?,

. A.. r. DU FAHR, l FURNAGE PoR MELTINGAND RBPLNING 150B AND QTHBRMETALS- W1] messes: u@ 4 ihttcii ,gratta -.aiwt omitir.

LeZtersPatent N 99,415, dated February 1, 1870.

IMPROVED PURNACE POR MELTING- AND REFINING- IRON AND OTHE METALS.

The. Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whomV it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, ADoLrH FABER DU FAUR, of 90 Broadway, of the. city,county, and State of New York, have invented a new. and usefulImprovement in Furnaces for Melting :or Refining Iron` and otherMet-als, and for remelting'. and manufacturing steel; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, Awhich will :enable those skilled in the art to make and usethe same, reference heilig had to the accompanying drawing, forming partof this specification, in which drawing- Figure l represents alongitudinal vertical section through the furnace.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section.

Figure 3 is a cross-section` taken in line with the tap-hole c. i v

Figure 4 is a vertical crosssection,rtkeu through the stack;

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.`

This invention relates to furnaces for melt-ing or rereining iron andother metals, and for remelting and manniacturing steel; and consists inthe construction and arrangement of a reverberatory or gas-furnace, insuch a manner that the materials to be melted are charged into a stack,and the gases and products of combustion enter the charge at the bottom,and pass up around and through or between the materials, graduallyheating them, and melting them o" at the hottom, the molten mass ormatter owing down through an inclined 'channel or neck into the hearth,being exposed to and brought iu direct Contact with the flames and gasesof the furnace, during its descent through the neck, and also after ithas reached the hearth.

The letter-a designates a pipe, through which the gasesare admitted tothe 1ire-bridge,in the usual or any suitable manner, from agas-generator, (not here shown.) When the gas-generator is connecteddirectly with the furnace, this pipe may be omitted, and the gases mayhe introduced from below.

'lhe letter b designates nozzles, through which the hot blast for thecombustion of the gases is supplied. These nozzles muy be so a1-rau` `dthat they can he madeto incline or dip more or s, at pleasure.' They areset in'a distrihuting-chainbcr, la', which communi* cat-es through thedelivery-pipe b, with the air-heating apparatus L arranged around thestack, fresh air being introduced into the lwating-apparatus through thesupply-pipe Ir. The quantity oi' air is regulated by a valve, (not hereshown.)

The letter c designates the lirc-bridge,and d, the hearth. At the lowestpart of the hearth, I provide a tap-hole, c, for running out the metal.(See figs. I,

v2, and.) Une or more small doors f are arranged on one or both sides ofthe hearth, to give access thereto for stirringthe metal, or taking outlsamples with a suitable ladle. v

The let-ter g is thc neck of the furnace, over the bot-tom of which themolten mass, as it comes from the stack, passes into the hearth.

The 1ct-ter Il designates the stack for receiving the charge. Itsconstruction and its arrangement with reference to the furnace is shownin the several lignres of the drawing. It isv made narrower than thewidth of the neck g, so as to allow the gases and products of combustionto enter the stack' from all sides, and thereby heat the materialsuniformly. In order to give access to the charge for loosening up thematerials, if required, I- provide small openingsz' with doors, at orbelow the lower part of the stack, as" shown in figs. l, 2, and 4.

My furnace may be operated by a. forced draught from a fan or otherblowing engine; but, it prcierrcd, v a draught by a chimney,suction-engine, or steam-jet may be employed.

1t will be'obs'ervcd,that as my furnace iseharged directly through thestack, thc doors fot' the furnace can he made very small., therebypreventing-the lose` of heat occasioned bylarge openings. The cindcrs orslag maybe raked out through the doors, or tapped through a holeprovided at at any desired level above the lowermost tap-hole.

For blowing ou the metal for the purpose of relining it, the tuyercs areplaced on one or both sides of the hearth, in the manner well known tothe trade. I have not shownv any tuyeres in my drawing, as theirconstruction and use are familial' to those skilled in thc art.

The manner of using and operating my furnace is as follows:

After the furnace is properly heated up, the matcrials to be meltcd'ar'ccharged at the tunnel-head or top of the stack, and the stack filled tothe top,orauy desired height. The hot gases passing through thematerials from below, will melt them off at thc bottom, the molten massilowing down through the noch a to the hearth. A thin iilrn of theliquid-metal is thus always exposed to the heat, and only melted andwoll heated metal will reach the hearth, which, conscquoni ly, willretain the highest temperature that the l'uri ia capable of producing,withoutjcvcr being cooled, as it would he if cold or solid materialswere charged directly' on the hearth, as in the old methogif It' themetal is to be reiin'ed, hot air may be blown on it. In this way ironmayhc decarbonized to any desired degree, so as to make steel or malleableiron. For accelerating dccarbonization, I charge homere, or otherdecarbonizing substances, in proper proportions, with the iron in thestack, or wrought and cast-iron together may be run through thev stack.The nature of the flame, whether having asurplus of oxygen or not, asvregulated bythe relative quantities of air and gas admi-tted,'will alsoinfluence the quality of the pronct." 1

The advantages of vthis furnace zare, among other things, that no" coldoxsolid metal is allowed to reach the hearth, which, consequently,retainsits heatwithf l the stack, 'substantially as shown and described.

ontbeing chilled; the consumption of fuel is'reduced to a minimum, asthe heat, which in ordinary furnaces iswasted, is transferred to the'charge and to tbeblast-j; materials: which', when charged ldirectly'onthe hearth, asin the .old method, 'are diifidult to melt,v becausetheyreceive heat only Vfrom abovewill melt more readily, because -t-hey areexposed' uniformly to the heat; .the metal fills the hearth gradually;its quality can be examined from time to time, so as to control it by,alf terations in the charge or by the blast and nature of the am'e. A

' I do not claim any of the long-known processes .for

What I claim asmy invention, and desite Vte secure -byLetters Patent,is` j. `1. 'In' rcverhelatory org'gas fumaces,=\ the stack h,-

constructedand arranged substantially as described. j 2. Extending theneck g soas to terminate below 3. So larranging the .stack'h and `neck gthat the latter shall extend around the stack on all sides, whereby 'thegases and products-.of combustion will .be caused to enterthe stack onall sides thereolsubstantiallyas set forth. v f

4. The air-heating apparatusk, in combination with 'i the stack h,substantially as show n and described.' ADOLPH FABER-.DU FAUn.

AJ. Vas SAN'rvooR-n, y E. F. Kaswsmmns.

